When the multi-tool came out onto the market with Leatherman, we were first kind of fascinated and thought of it as neat little gadget. But soon it became apparent that this neat little gadget was indeed a great supporter of an outdoorsman’s life and then a must for any active person to have on hand—err—on hip!

We quickly found that it was also very dangerous and expensive to demonstrate the incredible amount of things that it could do in front of the Canadian guides that we’d been hunting and fishing with. There were too many times that we came home without our Leatherman and too many guides with happy faces. If not gifted, it’s probably a sure bet that the Leatherman would have been “lifted.”

This neat little tool has been a trip-saver to me and my group of sportsmen that I hang with. In one instance it actually was a lifesaver.

For many years we carried out Leatherman on our belt, but also, probably as hard to change-habit, also carried a pocketknife, even though the multi-tool had it’s own knife hidden away in the vast array of tools. But our buddy Brad didn’t have a pocketknife. He relied on his multi-tool and often when using it fishing on my boat, he’d leave it laying on the bow or anywhere that I could easily (and mistakenly) knock it overboard. They sink quite fast, but only when the water is deep enough that you can’t touch bottom with your toes.

Brad finally adapted by carrying two multi-tools and was partial to the Gerber brand, which in my estimation, had a knife blade superior to the Leatherman that was on my belt. That was my excuse every time I would knock his tool overboard, rather than digging mine out of its handy carrying case.

My multi-tool has been very handy in a lot of instances, some of them quite humorous. Once in the heat of battle out sea duck hunting, with birds decoying like crazy and me stuffing shotgun shells into my semi-auto shotgun as fast as possible, my similar shaped bottle holding my nitroglycerin pills ended up caught in the gun’s magazine. Brad’s multi-tool was, as usual, out on the deck where it could be easily used by me. But not being that happy about having Brad notice my little predicament — we were struggling to get mine out from under several layers of camo clothing — when I noticed he was standing over me, grasping his side in uncontrollable laughter. “I promise I’ll never tell anyone,” he laughed.

He offered me his Gerber and soon the bottle of nitro was carefully stored in a pocket that promised some safety from a reoccurrence. Brad actually passed on telling the story to the first two strangers that were at the boat landing but when he recognized someone he did know, the cat came out of the bag.

Here’s a few things that were actually trip savers for us when using the multi-tool. Cut and repaired winch cable on our boat winch. After cutting we tied a couple of half-hitches around the winch hook that held until we could get to a boat shop and have the proper connection swaged onto the cable. Used the screwdrivers in the multi-tool too many times to remember but on one occasion was able to adjust the carb on our outboard. Another time used the same screwdriver to pry open a deck hatch and the pliers and knife to repair an electrical connection.

It was the opening day of the Sebago Ice Fishing Derby with a lot of prize money on the line. An anxious angler was going to be out in his ice shack and fishing before dark but his snowmobile with sled attached hit a pressure ridge and in they went. Using a Leatherman to finally get a hold of the slippery ice by stabbing it into the ice, he pulled himself up onto the ice. His snowmobile was submerged but his sled was still attached and floating. Using the adrenaline rush that he must have been experiencing, he was able to pull his snowmobile up onto the ice by hauling on the sled. And miraculously, he was able to start the engine and quickly was at his ice shack. He lit the heater and lantern in the ice shack. But before taking his clothes off to dry in the now toasty-warm shack, he baited a line and tossed it in the water. The rest of the story is history. He quickly caught a huge fish and won the large cash prize on that one line.

My new Leatherman Wingman is now resting comfortably on my side, already being used for several duties.

@Body Copy tagline diamond:.

Dick Pinney’s column appears weekly in the New Hampshire Sunday News. He may be reached at DoDuckInn@aol.com.